Two Outstanding Women Leaders Join the IWMF Board of Directors

[July 31, 2017, WASHINGTON, D.C.] – The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is thrilled to welcome to its board of directors two highly accomplished leaders in the print and social media industry. The new board members include Hannah Allam, national correspondent for BuzzFeed News and former Middle East bureau chief for McClatchy, and Anne Kornblut, director of strategic communications for Facebook and former senior editor at TheWashington Post.

“These women are simply phenomenal additions to the IWMF board of directors, and I am confident their guidance will be invaluable as we work to extend our organization’s impact and influence as advocates for diverse voices and women’s leadership in the news media,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, the IWMF’s executive director.

Hannah Allam is a national reporter for BuzzFeed News, covering U.S. Muslim life. She previously spent a decade as a foreign correspondent at McClatchy, serving as Baghdad bureau chief during the Iraq War and Cairo bureau chief during the Arab Spring uprisings. She’s also covered foreign policy and race/demographics. Allam was part of McClatchy teams that won a Polk Award for Syria reporting and an Overseas Press Club Hal Boyle Award for exposing death squads in Iraq. She’s been active with the National Association of Black Journalists, the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists’ Association, and the Overseas Press Club.

Anne Kornblut is the Director of Strategic Communications for Facebook. She previously worked as a senior editor for The Washington Post, until she left in 2015. In 2013, Anne was the lead editor overseeing coverage of Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations, which won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Before becoming an editor, she covered the White House for more than five years, and also covered three presidential campaigns – in 2000, 2004 and 2008 – including trailing Hillary Clinton across the country during her presidential bid, from start to finish. Following the Clinton campaign in 2008, Anne wrote an acclaimed book on women in politics, “Notes from the Cracked Ceiling.” She has appeared on dozens of national news programs, from NPR to Meet the Press, and given speeches on politics and journalism on many college campuses.

Allam and Kornblut are the latest additions to the IWMF Board this year, following a concerted board cultivation and engagement strategy that has been a core initiative within the organization’s strategic plan. Earlier this year, the IWMF announced it had added to its Board Stephanie Kauffman, chief strategic alliance officer, Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF); Jennifer Reingold, global head of content, Egon Zehnder, and former editor-at-large, Fortune; Andrea B. Smith, chief administrative officer, Bank of America; and Marisa Thalberg, chief marketing officer for Taco Bell.